1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to an electrical RF connector where the plug and jack and their associated conductors can be fixed, while at the same time the internal structure of the connector assembly can float. The plug connection has intentional mismatches in impedance to provide self-cancelling reflections irrespective of the axial float, minimizing power loss due to reflection.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typical RF coaxial connection systems are cable-to-cable assemblies and comprise a plug and jack where one of the connectors, most likely the jack is a fixed connector. The cable entering the jack is fixed relative to the jack and the jack would be fixedly mounted to a panel. The mating connector or plug would have an outer shielding shell which would be fixedly mounted to a panel, whereas the center conductor would be spring loaded and permitted to float in relationship to the outer shell.
It is also known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,859 to fixedly mount the jack within a rack, whereas the plug is spring loadably mounted to a panel. The entire plug member including the conductive shroud, the center conductor and the coaxial cable can float to accommodate the axial and radial misalignment.
There is a need within the industry, however, to have both halves of the connector fixed, that is, where the jack half has its conductive shroud and center conductor fixed relative to a first panel, and where the plug half has its conductive shroud and center conductor fixed relative to a second panel. In commercially available product which is of the type in which the conductive shroud and center conductor of both the jack and the plug are fixed to respective panels, the plug and jack are designed to have matched or balanced impedances when they are fully mated, and the accommodation to tolerance mismatch is taken up by simply allowing the pin to not fully mate.
However, in the section where it is not fully mated, there is a high degree of impedance mismatch, resulting in substantial power loss due to the reflected signal. As the length of impedance mismatch changes due to the extent of mating, the electrical performance is either improved or degraded; if the degree of unmating increases, the performance worsens; whereas, if the connectors are further mated, the performance increases. It should be appreciated then that in a rack and panel system having a plurality of such connectors, the degree of unmatedness would vary with each connector pair due to the varying axial tolerances between the associated pairs.
It is an object of the invention then to provide an electrical connector assembly where both halves of the coaxial pair are fixed, yet where the connector pin can float to accommodate for axial and radial tolerance mismatch.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an electrical connector assembly where the floating of the connector pair self compensates for impedance mismatch throughout the various flotation positions, such that the electrical performance of the connector pair is high.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.